This year’s Group B of the Champions Hockey League see’s Germany’s top team for the past three years Red Bull Munich take on TPS Turku from Finland, Swedish side Malmo Redhawks as well as Yunost Minsk out of Belarus in what should be a close group.
Red Bull Munich
- Qualified as: DEL Playoff champions
- 4th CHL appearance, First playoff round in every season
- Club information
For the past three seasons, there has been no better team in Germany than Munich and they come into their fourth straight Champions Hockey League appearance having won both the German regular season every year since 2016, as well as the German post season. In each of the teams three appearances in the CHL so far, they’ve qualified from their respective groups, finishing top in the 2015/16 and 2017/18 tournaments, but have been knocked out in the first knockout round each time.
The German side will once again be led by American coach Don Jackson who’s been in control of the side since 2014, and while they have lost some key names like Brooks Macek to the Vegas Golden Knights, they’ve brought in five new Canadian faces in Justin Shugg, Mark Voakes, John Mitchell and Trevor Parkes from around the league, while Andrew Bodnarchuk joins from the AHLs Texas Stars.
TPS Turku
- Qualified as: Liiga runners-up
- 5th CHL appearance; QFs in 2015/16
- Club information
For the past two seasons, TPS have come up short in the league standings, twice finishing in second place and they’ll look to recover from a disapoitning 2017/18 CHL campaign as they failed to get out of the group, finishing behind the Nottingham Panthers and SC Bern.
Kalle Kaskinen is back for his second year in charge of the side after coming through the ranks as a junior player back in the early 90s, but they will be without team captain Tomi Kallo after the 41-year-old forward called time on his lengthy and successful career, just a year after finishing second in league points with 55 in 58 games. Now they’ll rely on the likes of Ilari Filppula to lead the team offensively, while young rising star Kaapo Kakko will attract a lot of attention as the 17-year-old winger gears up for the NHL Draft at the end of the season.
Malmö Redhawks
- Qualified as: SHL semi-finalists
- 2nd CHL appearance, Round of 16 in 2017/18
- Club information
The Malmö Redhawks will join up with the CHL for the second straight year, just four years after being promoted from the Allsvenskan. In their first three years in the SHL since their relegation back in 2007 they’ve been a middle of the pack side, and head coach Peter Andersson will be hoping a positive CHL campaign will spur the team forward. Young forward Fredrik Händemark is back for his third full season as a Redhawk after captaining the side last season, posting 28 points in 52 outings, and the 24-year-old centre will once again be one of the leading forces trying to drive Malmö to success this season.
Yunost Minsk
- Qualified as: Continental Cup winners
- 2nd CHL appearance; Round of 32 in 2016/17
- Club information
One of two sides from Belarus in this years edition of the Champions Hockey League, Yunost Minks come into their second CHL as last years Continental Cup champions, defeating Nomad Astana of Kazakhstan to earn a spot in this years tournament. Nine of last years side have left the squad, with some fresh faces in the Minsk locker room this season, and despite coming in as the lowest seeded side, last years lowest seed Nottingham Panthers showed that anyone can get the wins they need in this competition. They also didn't lose a home game in the CHL when they took part two years ago.